Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I have put in the background and will continue to adjust the value relationships between the sunflower face and background. I have painted additional glazes of quin.gold plus magenta on behind pedals and begun to add more hard edge details and shadows to the forward pedals.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I have layered another wash of blue-violet to the background, varying the dark, and used negative space painting to develop some leaf shapes. I also glazed another layer of warm color (magenta mix) on the front leaf to pull the leaf forward in space and push the other leaf behind. At this point, I am mostly satisfied with the value relationships within the painting, so I put in some final details in the pedals, creating more hard-edged shadows. I also glazed over the "behind" pedals with a dilute Quin. Gold to further push them behind the forward pedals.

For this painting demonstration, I have completed the midtone values that develop the form of the pedal shapes. I used more magenta for the back pedals. The red tones behind the yellow recede.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Here I have begun to work around the flower, developing form in every other pedal. More to follow.

I have begun to paint in the background areas, choosing a deep blue-violet for the background to complement the orange and yellow in the flower. I try to vary the blues and purples as I move around the flower. For the foreground leaves, I glazed another layer of paint to darken and develop shape. While the background is still damp, I soften some of the edges on the pedals and the leaves. This is the point where I evaluate the value relationships and determine if and where I want to add more darks. I also look at the details of the flower face and pedals and add shadows or more value to the face.

Friday, October 17, 2008

The midtone values on the pedals are complete and have started to develop some form. I also began to develop the face of the flower and painted in some lighter tones to begin the leaves. For the leaves, I used the same paint colors as for the face, pedals, underpainting glaze. For greener tones for leaves, use more of the blue and yellows or you can do as I do often and mingle a mix of colors with a hint of green. There are many options for this step. See what works best for your paintings. Happy Painting.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

In this next step, I have painted in all the midtone values for the behind pedals working every other pedal at a time. I am using mostly New Gamboge and Quinacridone Gold with a very small amount of Quinacridone Magenta toward the center for the flower. This is done wet-into-wet for each pedal, creating a small graded wash in each. More to follow.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

This is the beginning phase of the painting I am demonstrating in the Sunflower Workshop. In step one, I paint the underpainting using wet-into-wet technique to diffuse and mingle glazing colors. The next step (day 2 of workshop) I begin to develop the flower face and texture and the midtone values on the pedals. Using wet-into-wet technique for the flower face and pedals painted individually. When working around the flower, I am considering the light source, developing pedal form and face form using graded value washes. I will post more photos of the painting as it progresses.

This is often the stage in a painting where I am the most unsure of whether or not I can pull the painting together. When I can start to see the form develop, I am energized again to complete the work.

Friday, October 10, 2008

This week, I am working on a pastel painting of a grazing gazelle. The painting is the third in a series inspired by animals from The National Zoo in Washington DC. I took the reference photograph used for this painting during a trip to the zoo with my family this summer. I am working on a half sheet 300lb watercolor paper. I first apply an acrylic ground for pastel mixed with acrylic paint (green in this case). The ground is applied with a palette knife, left to dry, and then sanded to create the desired texture. This technique I have developed from trial and error and seems to fit the subject well. The texture creates a depth and dimension to the surface and holds pastel well allowing for many glazes of color. To see the other paintings in this series visit my website http://www.artbyariel.com/, Pastel Gallery. "The Matriarch" and "Lazy River" were both completed on textured watercolor paper. The paintings are matted and framed using archival materials.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Over the past few months, I have been working on a collaborative piece for an uncoming exhibit "Point of Connection" opening Oct 3rd-Nov 3rd at Liberty Town Arts http://www.libertytownarts.com/. The exhibit displays works of art created in collaboration by a pair of artists working in various media: fine art, fiber art, and craft. Above are three sunflowers I painted in watercolor for the exhibit. The paintings are suspended from a woven wall hanging done by Lynette Reed. The collaboration was such a fun process full of creative challenge. Check out the article about the exhibit in The Free Lance-Star, view my interview on the web, and see a sampling of the works created. Art, Outside the Lines